SPRINGFIELD – Members of a Somalian refugee family, left homeless after their Union Street apartment was condemned last week, say they are struggling to return to a normal life here in the city and country they love.

During an interview with The Republican and MassLive on Thursday, Haji Mamo and his wife Habiba Said, assisted by an interpreter, stated repeatedly they want to return home to Springfield.

They have been staying in a Greenfield hotel since their apartment at 515 Union St. was condemned by the city a week ago.

Mamo, during in an interview assisted by an interpreter-case worker from Jewish Family Service, said his family has been happy in the United States since moving here in 2003 from a refugee camp in Kenya. They had left Somalia many years earlier as it was torn by civil war, Mamo said.

They have lived in Springfield except for a two-year move to Nashville, Tenn., in 2005, to be close to his wife’s mother, Mamo said. A report that they later moved to Utica, N.Y., was incorrect, he said, as that involved other relatives.

They returned to Springfield in 2007, joined by his wife’s sister and her family, living together.

The combined families now total 12 children, Mamo has seven children, and his wife’s sister, Sitey, is a widow and blind, and has five children, he said.

Mamo and his wife said they want the public to know that one or both of them have held jobs nearly the entire time they have been in the United States, ranging from cleaning buildings to making mattresses despite language difficulties.

Mamo said they have received food stamps but nearly no other public aid since their first resettlement in Springfield, when they were provided an apartment and aided financially by federal dollars through Jewish Family Service.

Mamo said his family returned to Springfield in 2007 after his wife’s mother died, and they saw no reason to stay in Nashville.

“We missed Springfield – the place we started,” Mamo said.

Family members said they were advised last week to stay temporarily at the Greenfield hotel after their apartment was condemned and a replacement apartment was also quickly condemned.

That hotel stay has been very difficult, as they feel isolated, crowded, and the children have been missing school, according to the parents and some of the children.

The family is worried, including concerns the state could take their children, the interpreter said.

Robert Marmor, president of Jewish Family Service, said his organization one of two refugee resettlement agencies in the region, is working hard to help the family and will do everything possible to keep them safe. The agency did not know of the family’s plight until alerted by the city last week, and now has two outreach workers assigned to help them, he said.

The condemnation came when their 17-year-old daughter called police and asked for help after unpaid electric bills led to the shutoff of their power last week.

Their electric bills had been extremely high, as high as $1,000 in the winter due to electric heat and possibly some problem with the electric system, family members said.

Mamo said he and his wife worked hard, cared for their children, and did their best to keep up with very high bills and low income.

The 17-year-old, Hawa, said she and other children have missed school, and the family is missing much of their clothing.

She said staying in the hotel is worse than staying in the apartment, saying the roaches were ‘tiny.”

City officials cited a roach infestation at the apartment. A lawyer for the landlord, No Limit Investment, Inc., said work is being done to remedy the situation at the apartment.

Hawa has a temporary tattoo on her arm that states: "Springfield Central High School,” saying she loves her school and Springfield.

“I called the police and thought they would help us,” Hawa said. “I didn’t know it would be a big situation. We love Springfield. We came to this country to get a good education, to get a good life.”

She said her parents have worked hard, and the current situation is embarrassing and very hard on the family.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said that agencies, from the federal government on down need to do more to help refugee families and to ensure the families are not an added burden on city services.